Happy October!

We are so excited that is October!  It is one of our families favorite times of the year!

To kick off this month with FHE we made Derek's favorite cookies pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and delivered to our neighbors.  One of our neighbors opened the door saying, "You guys are the best neighbors ever!" in her black voice.  Don't you wish you were our neighbor?!

My mom was always so awesome at giving little gifts for my siblings and I with each holiday.  I think that is a top love language of my mom.  She is a very thoughtful gift giver and I wish I was naturally good at that.  Well I am trying....  We got "boo"ed by someone (me and Ash) this week.  

Saturday morning we had our own movie set of filming 4 different princess movies/song trailers.  Derek is the man for being 4 different princes for 4 different movies (Prince Hans, Erik, Phillip, and the Beast).  Scott (Derek's dad) was so creative and would make films with his kids and Derek wants to continue the tradition.  I just love how at reunions everyone loves to watch these movies still.

I have been getting a lot of comments lately that Desi is a MINI-ME

Matchy-Matchy hair

Emmett got a new toy (the girls play with it just as much as he does)!

Picture day at school!

Derek made oatmeal for the first time at our house and everyone loved it (except me-haha)!  This might become a new normal breakfast meal at our house.

This week when we did storytime with Nana there where some special guests with her: Amberlin and Riley.  It was so fun to see the cousins interact!

This afternoon we ditched the after school routine and escaped to "our family spot" at the zoo trail.  It is so fun to be in nature with the family. 

(I don't like it when Derek does silly stuff like this because he is giving ideas to the girls)

Desi's new face

Isn't it just magical! 

I love the school that the girls go to.  They do a week called Hello Week and it is awareness of others to get out of our comfort zone and get to know people in your class/school that you don't know well yet.  Each day they are given a challenge like sitting next to someone you don't know at lunch, saying hello to someone you don't know at recess, and more.  It pushed my kids out of their comfort zone and I loved to hear each day what they did.

We went to Brinley's school to have lunch with her.  The whole time she would look at her class.  I told her how happy I was to have lunch with her and she said kindly, "Mom I wish you weren't here so I could be with my friends."  I was sad for a minute and then I realized that it was awesome and I don't need to worry about her missing us at home ha ha.  Friends are really important to this girl.

I recently listened to a podcast about how parents could be more connected with their kids' teachers and so I emailed Brinley's teacher sharing how thankful I am for the work she is doing and ask how Brinley is doing.  I didn't realize "in the dark" parents could feel with their kids school work and progression.  (I think I would be a way better teacher after having my own kids in school ;). Her teacher wrote the sweetest email back saying how great of a student Brinley is, how she brightens her day, and how she wishes she had a class full of Brinleys.  Then she said that Brinley is so kind to others and how everyone wants to be friends with Brinley.  I shared this with her and she was so happy!  "I have lots of friends and my teacher wants a class full of mes!" Proud mama moment!

This girl is getting creative with her outfits!

We have been working on the letter F and did the fishy game

Writing the upper and lower case letters A-F

There was a beautiful and HUGE spider web we were admiring on our walk.

He is outgrowing the swing

Brinley had Johnny Appleseed Day at school and she used her own creativity to dress up like him.  She found a stick from our yard, created the bag, then the pot was too heavy for her head so we made her hat.  She was so excited!

Desi wanted her picture taken

Proud wife moment!  Derek wrote an article for DentalTown and he made it on the cover!

I am so proud of all his hard work!  He keeps raising his bar and works hard to achieve his goals!  Way to go Derek!

Fishes!

It is rare to have this little guy cry so I thought I would take a picture of his cute crying face

Claire has earned some money and bought herself a Frozen microphone.  She dressed up as Else when she finally got it in the mail. 

We wrote a family bucket list for October and then Ashlyn drew a picture of our family of what we plan to be for Halloween (Wizard of Oz).

 One of my friends is moving and I volunteered to watch her kids while she packed.  It was fun to have boy friends to play with.  Boys bring a whole lot of energy and I was so exhausted at the end of the two hours.  We played Dr. Evil and I seriously chased after the kids for 20 minutes around the living room. 

The little boy loved it when I was the Evil Doctor!

These two are really into puzzles.  I love these hard board puzzle from Pottery Barn (given to us by a friend- Sable's family). 

This little guy found his thumb!

Brinley enjoys these

Derek had a patient come in with these types of shoes and wanted a pair of his own.  He absolutely loves them.  They look so comfortable and has a unique look.

PUUURRRRFFFFEEEECCCCTTTTT!

He has really dry skin and we are in the quest of some lotions that work for him....

See the redness on the elbow, behind the leg, and chest.

Derek and I are trying to teach our girls that they can do hard things! What better way to teach these girls by signing up for a Halloween family fun run!!! Sprints in a muddy field was an adventure!

These girls were so proud of themselves for working so hard.

To top it off, they got to ride in the back of Daddy's truck back to the van.

I was able to go on a field trip with Ashlyn to a science magic show at the local college.  We had so much fun together.  Ashlyn just held my hand throughout the show.  I love to soak up my one-on-one time with Ashie!

After she wanted to go to Walmart for a date and spend her money buying a dog and a watch!  She is a saver, but she knows how to selectively chose the items worth buying.

Bathtime Ritual: Sack of Potatoes!

After the girls get out of the bath, they liked to be wrapped up in a towel and Derek walks to me and asks if I ordered a sack of potatoes (usually the girls are hanging over his shoulders).

These two have been fighting a bit more lately.  It is hard to see, but I think it part of being a family.  I soak up these moments when I find them fast asleep together.

I started this Money/extra chores chart.  Derek and I really want to teach our kids to work hard to earn money.  There is a lot of value in hard work.  I wanted to give them more opportunity to earn money because Derek and I don't really pay for toys and such.  We believe that they will take care of them more if they take ownership. 

This girl is the pickiest eater and there have been many many nights where she decides to go to bed hungry.  We had asparagus and she loved it!

My after-school view.... the moment that I stopped and was present.  I am grateful for my crazy life!

Claire was looking through this book and found a picture of a puzzle we have in the closet!

This guy has lots of energy! 

He wouldn't hold still for a picture!

Derek and I light a candle at night in our bedroom and Emmett is so mesmerized by it.

 Loves Mommy and Daddy time when all the girls are in bed!

This boy is so loved by his sisters!

Well this happened on Sunday.  Derek walked into the living room and found a trail of hair (this was a little of the trail) and scissors. Claire cut her own hair.  Thank goodness you can't really tell unless you look closely.